N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources

[NCangler]

MOREHEAD CITY – The N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries is accepting proposals for the Boating
Infrastructure Grant (BIG) program for federal fiscal 2009.

BIG is a program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that reimburses up to 75 percent of projects that provide docking and other facilities for recreational transient vessels that are at least 26 feet long. It was authorized by Congress in 1998 and is funded by excise taxes on fishing equipment and motorboat fuel.

DMF serves as the liaison between projects in North Carolina and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the BIG program.

Types of project that could be funded include mooring buoys, day-docks, transient slips, safe harbor facilities (including temporary safe anchorage or a harbor of refuge during a storm), floating and fixed piers and breakwaters, dinghy docks, restrooms, retaining walls, bulkheads, dockside utilities, trash collections and recycling facilities, dockside electric, water and telephone capabilities, navigational aids and marine fueling stations.

Big funds are distributed each year over a four-year period. Grants are provided on a two-tiered basis.*For Tier-I grants, all states get at least $100,000 total per grant cycle as long as their proposals meet the program's guidelines. Tier-II projects are designated for larger, more expensive undertakings and are awarded on a nation-wide competitive basis.

In the past two years the North Carolina towns of Morehead City, Belhaven and Washington competed successfully at the Tier-II, national level. Morehead City received $310,000, Belhaven received $155,000 and Washington received $200,000 to help each town build transient boat slips near their downtowns.

For information about grant availability, contact Brian Cheuvront, Federal Aid coordinator, N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries, by mail at P.O. Box 769, Morehead City, N.C. 28557-0769 or at (252) 808-8015 or (800) 682-2632 (in North Carolina only). You may also contact him at Brian.Cheuvront@ncmail.net. The deadline for applications to be received by the state Division of Marine Fisheries is Sept. 26.